Golf Ball Fitting Is A Good Idea For All Golfers

Golf Ball Fitting??

How important is it to play the right golf ball for your game?

Investigate Golf Ball Fitting and find out!

Playing with golf equipment fit to your personal game will lead to lower golf scores and a lot more fun! Getting custom fit for your golf clubs is critical, but don't overlook selecting the best golf ball for your game!

Golf Ball Choices

There is a definite trend in the golfing world which sees golf ball technology changes beginning to outweigh the technological changes in golf clubs!

Because there are so many different types of golf balls on the market, you have a challenging decision to make regarding selecting the best golf ball for your game.

Golf ball fitting can solve this problem.

Golf
ball tests have provided
sufficient data to determine that golf balls are basically separated
into two types: Advanced
and recreational.

Advanced

The
best golf balls are made for the
more advanced player with a golf swing speed in excess of
90mph or more, and are made with three (3) or more layers.

These balls generally have a soft cover and a firm core. This type ball will have a greater amount of spin from lofted shots produced by golf clubs such as wedges.

If the compression of the ball doesn't match the golfer's swing speed, either over-compression or under-compression will occur causing a loss of distance.

Therefore, it is very important to match your swing speed to the correct ball for your game! This is where golf ball fitting comes into play!

Recreational

Recreational
balls are designed for the average golferwith
lower golf swing
speeds (less
than 90mph) and who tend to hit balls out of bounds on a regular
basis.

Photo Courtesy Of Callaway Golf

These two piece golf balls are made in two layers with the outer cover firmer than the core within.

This design of golf ball suits the average golfer quite well because the lower compression matches the lower swing speed, and the side spin reduction characteristics tend to lessen slicing or hooking the ball.

These balls are much less expensive!

Now, let's get into how golf ball fitting is accomplished.

Golf Ball Fitting

The most important elements of golf ball physics that relate to the golf ball fitting process are:

Swing speed - Which in turn relates to club head speed at impact measured in miles/hour

Trajectory - The launch angle of the ball from ground
level measured in angular degrees and the maximum altitude attained
measured in feet above the ground

Durability - The resistance to surface disruption, scarring, and denting by the clubface at impact

The golf ball you select in the golf ball fitting process should maximize your potential, and be considered a game improvement ball.

You will need to define how the proper ball will effect your game on a regular basis.

Play a ball which maximizes driver distance for your particular Swing Speed.

You will need to obtain an accurate evaluation of your swing speed in
order to facilitate the Golf Ball Fitting process, as well as finding a
ball which will effectively control unwanted side-spin causing slices and hooks.

For better scoring it's most important to play a ball which will give you good results with pitching, bunker play and putting!

Keys to Maximizing Distance and Unwanted Side Spin Control

The key factors for optimizing performance from golf balls are:

Maximum Compression

Optimal Launch Angle

Initial Spin Rate

The most important of these three factors is the compression of the golf ball.

You must optimize the compression of the core in order to take advantage of the maximum spring effect of today's advanced drivers.

The inner core of the ball is what gives life to the total golf ball construction. The core must be engaged before the ball will fly to it's maximum distance.
Maximum energy must be transferred to the core of the ball.

Lack of compression results in a loss of distance and poor spin
control!

The engagement of the core with the club face determines how fast the ball leaves the club face, which in turn results in either reduced distance for your swing speed or maximum distance.

Proper golf ball selection should begin with setting goals for your game,
and an accurate evaluation of your existing game.

Golf ball fitting
will play a vital role in your goal setting and future success in
scoring.

Golfing Levels

The process of golf ball fitting begins with determining which level of golfing ability listed below is reflective of your current game.

There are basically three categories of golfers:

Beginner

Intermediate

Advanced

BEGINNER: An inconsistent or "Novice Golfer"

If you are brand new to the game of golf, or have been playing the game for a length time with a very inconsistent game, then this is the category you are in presently.

Your swing speed is less than 90mph and your current handicap for 18-hole rounds is around 25 or more with typical scoring at 95 or above.

This means that you probably have drives that are less than 200 yards, hit quite a few poor shots; Hooks, slices, fat shots, topped shots, etc. and spend quite a bit of time in the woods or the rough!

The first thing to do is start with a ball you can afford. Green fees, carts and caddies are expensive these days, so a high-handicap player shouldn't be looking at balls that are $40 to $50 a dozen.

If you are a high-handicap player, you are playing mostly for fun
and tend to lose several balls during a round.

The more expensive balls
are made for the more advanced players with higher swing speeds, who generally won't lose many balls on a regular basis.

At this level of playing ability use a two piece golf ball to reduce some unwanted side-spin and compress the ball more efficiently.

You will want a ball that you can compress more efficiently with your current swing speed.

You are a well-disciplined and skilled golfer with overall control of your game.

You hit the ball with consistency and authority, with excellent touch around the Green. Your handicap is around 8 to 12 with a good portion of birdie holes. You are now scoring in the mid 70's to low 80's.

At this time in your game you could benefit from a 3 to 4 Piece high performing golf ball
with a Urethane outer cover, which gives you greater distance off the
Tee with good feel for putting and shots around the Green.

Recommended 3-4 Piece Urethane Covered Golf Ball:

Taylormade TP Black

Great feel with high spin for Greenside shots, and Urethane outer cover